Those Cunning Folk
by WeasleySeeker
Summary: "Those cunning folk use any means to achieve their ends." A collection of unrelated drabbles and one-shots revolving around different characters and pairings from Slytherin House, telling its story through good and bad. iii: Azkaban doesn't affect Bellatrix like it affects the others.
1. Draco

**i: In the blood**

"SLYTHERIN!" the Sorting Hat roars before it's even touched his head, and Draco smiles, satisfied. It's not as if he wasn't expecting it - he's a Malfoy, after all, it's in his blood - but he's still proud that, without even needing consideration, the hat has declared him a member of the ancient house of his ancestors.

He takes in his new housemates as he walks up to take his place among them, and he can feel the ambition radiating from them, see the want and the hunger in their eyes. He knows immediately that this is an environment in which he will flourish.

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**A/N: ****So I signed up for the Your Favourite Hogwarts House Boot Camp on HPFC because I'm a Slytherin, but most of my fics seem to feature Gryffindors (probably _something_ to do with Romione being my OTP ;)). I therefore decided to start this collection to give my house some love. This seemed like a logical place to start :) The prompt was "blood".**

**Disclaimer: J K Rowling owns all of this.**


	2. Andromeda

**ii: Ghosts of the past**

Andromeda steadied herself outside the heavy wooden door, trying to stop shaking. She'd left Teddy with Harry for the afternoon, because, after weeks of trying to ignore it, she needed to do this.

She knew she didn't need a key. Black Manor was protected by all manner of protective enchantments against intruders, of course, but they wouldn't have any effect on Andromeda; as much as she sometimes wished she didn't, she still had Black blood running in her veins. Taking a deep breath, she extended a trembling hand towards the doorknob and turned it, pushing the door open and stepping over the threshold of her childhood home for the first time in over twenty years.

The first thing she noticed was the dust. She guessed it was up to an inch thick in places. It wasn't the dust that surprised her, though - it wasn't that shocking that the house had gone into disrepair, considering it had been uninhabited for over six years, since her father's decease. No, what surprised her was that with the dust, the lack of sunlight and the general gloominess of the place, she felt exactly the same stifled feeling as she'd felt living there as a child rushing through her. It was as if she'd been gone for days rather than decades. She sighed, opening the faded curtains in a fruitless attempt to brighten the place up a little. She didn't like being back there, not at all. There were too many ghosts.

Not literal ghosts, of course - she'd become more than accustomed to those during her time at Hogwarts - but ghosts of the past. Memories of dreary summers stuck in her bedroom with only her school books for company, longing to be back at Hogwarts so she could see Ted. Memories of her parents arguing over every little thing, their livid voices reverberating around the huge house. And memories of her sisters.

Andromeda's legs carried her up the stairs, without her giving any conscious thought to where she was going. Unsurprisingly, she found herself coming to a halt outside a room on the second floor with a huge adorned nameplate: _BELLATRIX_.

She almost smiled when she entered the room - she'd forgotten how very _Bellatrix_ it was. The walls were painted black; a fourteen-year-old Bellatrix had refused to have her walls painted in what her mother defined as "a pretty colour", so instead of compromising and going for Slytherin green (which Andromeda knew for a fact was what she had originally wanted), she had insisted on black, just to defy her mother. Andromeda felt hot tears stinging her eyes as she collapsed onto the bed, longing for the old Bellatrix.

Andromeda remembered the Bellatrix who was nothing more than a fiercely independent young woman who had to have everything exactly the way she wanted. The Bellatrix who sparkled with potential. The Bellatrix who was entertaining and intriguing to be around. The Bellatrix who she had almost idolised, strove to be like in any way she could.

Then she remembered the other Bellatrix. The jealous Bellatrix, who jeered at her sisters whenever either of them achieved anything. The Bellatrix who ignored everyone unless she wanted them for something. The Bellatrix who tried her hardest to murder Ted and ruin her sister's happiness. And, of course, the Bellatrix who became a Death Eater. The Bellatrix who killed, tortured and committed any number of other heinous crimes.

The tears began flowing, and they didn't stop. Andromeda wasn't mourning the death of Bellatrix Lestrange. She was mourning the loss of the Bellatrix she knew, the Bellatrix she lost over twenty years ago, who seemed to have vanished without trace.

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**A/N: This is for the prompt "ghosts", and also for the One Hour Challenge.**

**I've been wanting to write about Andromeda's reaction to Bellatrix's death for quite a long time, and I finally got round to it, so I hope you like my take on it!**


	3. Bellatrix

**iii: When the Time is Right**

Azkaban doesn't affect her like it affects the others.

Her fellow inmates scream day and night as they're driven insane by their worst nightmares, but Bellatrix doesn't despair. Some say that it's because she's rotten to the core. Some say that it's because she was insane to start with.

"She can't be human, that Bellatrix Lestrange. Shows no remorse whatsoever."

She's unable to comprehend why she would feel remorse. She'd do it all again if she had to. Because every person that she's killed, every scream that she's produced, has been for him.

The Dark Lord is alive, and he's coming for her.

She has no idea how long it will take, but the belief is like a light inside her; she knows she won't be here forever. The Dementors make her relive the worst moments in her life, but hope keeps her sane, or at least as sane as she ever was. She's the Dark Lord's most faithful servant. She would give her life for him, and she knows that he would never abandon her.

The people who say he's dead? That's just the stupid Ministry deluding itself, or cowards like Lucius who would rather live a cosy life in his manor and suck up to politicians than do his time in Azkaban like the _real_ Death Eaters. No, Bellatrix knows that her master is too powerful to be defeated by a one-year-old. She doesn't know what's happened to him, but she knows that he must have a plan. He always does. He'll return when the time is right. She can feel it in her bones. And she knows that he'll be more powerful than ever before.

He got close last time, but Bellatrix knows that this time he'll do it, this time he'll rid the magical world of the all Mudbloods who are tainting wizards' sacred blood and he'll begin a reign of terror against all those who defy him... Bellatrix shivers at the thrilling thought. Maybe he'll let her rule alongside him...

No. She's getting carried away with that little fantasy. The Dark Lord doesn't have equals. But she's willing to give all she has to serve him.

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**A/N: There you go, have some deranged Bellatrix ramblingness for the prompt "believe" :)**


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